Stipulation Would Allow Industrial Customers To Opt-Out of Nonbypassable Treatment of PJM Charges, Make Retail Suppliers Responsible For Costs

A new stipulation among the FirstEnergy Ohio utilities and several industrial customer groups concerning the utilities' pending electric security plan filing would create a "pilot" program allowing certain industrial customers to opt-out of nonbypassable treatment of various non-market-based PJM charges, with such charges instead assigned to, and collected by, the customer's load-serving entity, rather than the distribution company.

The stipulation provides that the utilities agree to deploy a "small-scale pilot program" providing an alternative means for customers to obtain and pay for services otherwise provided by or through the Non-Market -Based Services Rider (Rider NMB)

The purpose of the pilot program is to explore whether certain customers could benefit from opting out of the utilities' Rider NMB and obtaining, directly or indirectly through a retail supplier, all transmission and ancillary services through the Open Access Transmission Tariff and other PJM governing documents, or whether the administrative burden to the utilities, and the cost and risk to the customer, would render this option impractical.

The pilot program would be limited to: (i) Industrial Energy Users-Ohio member customers, (ii) Ohio Energy Group member-customers, (iii) Nucor Steel Marion, Inc., and (iv) Material Sciences Corporation

Upon opting-out, the customer would commit to obtain and pay for NITS and all other non-market-based and market-based services through the otherwise applicable OATT and identify the accounts subject to the election.